Eye-opening Stats on U.S. Small Businesses

Late last year Jason Nazar (who runs Docstoc) compiled a list of 16 vital and surprising facts on small businesses in the US. Some of these stats are astounding – over 120 million individuals work in a small business and small businesses have generated over 65% of the net new jobs since 1995. Some of these stats are disheartening – approximately 543,000 new businesses get started EACH MONTH; but more shut down than get started EACH MONTH! And some of the stats – whether shocking or downright silly – speak to the heart of why Thank You Small Business was created.

It’s common knowledge that the SBA defines a small business as an enterprise that has fewer than 500 employees. Which is, quite frankly, silly. How can you lump together the bootstrapped corner coffee shop that has 5 employees or the 2-person marketing agency with the venture-backed technology start-up that has 450 employees? At no point in reality would their needs be the same. At no point in reality would the issues they face on a daily basis be the same. There needs to be a better “definition” and “break down” of small businesses so that the more than 500,000 small businesses that shut down each month can get the proper help and the right guidance.

Based on the SBA’s definition, there are 28 million small businesses in the US. 22 million of these 28 million are self-employed, and are considered non-employers because they have no additional payroll or employees. In fact, according to information gathered from the US Census Bureau and the SBA, over 75% of all US Businesses are non-employer businesses. Imagine what could happen if just half of these non-employers were able to grow to the point where they could hire just ONE employee. Imagine what could happen if the 6 million employer firms could grow enough to hire just ONE more employee.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2013 showed 11.3 million unemployed individuals throughout the US. If half of the non-employer businesses hired just one employee, 11 million jobs would be created. If ALL small businesses in the US were able to hire just one more employee, 28 million jobs would be created – giving us more than twice as many available jobs as there currently are unemployed Americans.

The stats, shocking. The math, pretty simple.

This is why Thank You Small Business exists. We need to support these organizations. We need to help them grow. We need to change the economy – one small business at a time. It’s in all of our best interest…and the results could be amazing!